HILLSDALE — The seventh annual ArtWorks Music Scholarship Competition Sunday included 31 entries vying for top performance and cash awards.

ArtWorks of Hillsdale, the county’s arts council, organized the music scholarship competition to offer performance opportunities for the county’s young musicians.

The event, which took place at the Hillsdale First United Methodist Church, included singers and instrumentalists who are Hillsdale County residents in grades six through 12 or are ages 11-18.

Organizer and ArtWorks board member Renee Nestorak said she was pleased with the outcome of the competition and that “the event went smoothly.

“The group was a little smaller this year, but it was still a good competition,” Nestorak said.

Like last year, there were two warm-up rooms per performance room, so that allowed participants to practice with less distractions, Nestorak said.

Judges, whom Nestorak identified as “experienced,” included Emily Barkakati, Cynthian Brundage, Jan Fourn, and Carol Ivkovich. Two of the judges are part of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra Community Music School and another is a Hillsdale College adjunct professor of voice.

Nestorak said all the judges were new, but offered great feedback. Each student had a 10-minute time slot in which the judges could give a small master-class type lesson about the piece or technique.